[vivekz]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

Are you rotating your tyres at fixed intervals. At 39000 Km my OE tyres are about 50-60% worn. I guess I will have to replace them before the next rains 15-16 months from now when the total running will be about 60000.

Rahul

I have maintained a rotation, alignment schedule of 7k approx.

The VW service advisor said that tyres should easily do another 10k but since they are a worn they cannot balance them. Whatever logic it was.

The outside alignment center I visited balanced it. But they said I need to change them in another 4-5k. Since they have direct benefit in me purchasing a tyre from them, I am going with VW SA advice of another 10k and then assess the condition. But still nowhere near your 10k Rahul.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by bottle

If it isn't too much trouble can you post the before and after pics ?

Sadly, Bottle, I forgot to take photos of before, so there didn't seem to be any point in taking after.

Sorry.

[sajusherief]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

Question to every one. How much oil do you need to top up.
Rahul

I too had the same question regarding the quantity of the engine oil to be used. There is no clear answer any where, not in the manual, not in the service manual. In this thread I happen to see that some people required only 4 liters of Oil during service. I always used to wonder why they charge us separately for 5 ltrs. Notice the parts bill, they always charge as 4 + 1 liter, why not 5 ltr together ?

I'd send a mail to Volkswagen customer center expecting no response. But surprisingly I got calls from their pune head office and even from the local service center to attend my query. Both confirmed that the the engine oil quantity required for 1.2 Polo Diesel is 4 liter for engine and .3 liter for oil filter which means 4.3 Liter in total. Though still I'm not convinced with the engine oil filter part I was glad that they at least responded.For petrol it was some 2.8 Liters that he mentioned which I don't recollect exactly.

An update on my third service: Luckily normal service with no major part change(touch wood ). It costed me around 11.7K.

[alexanish]

My 1.5 year old polo has been showing some issues with the parking sensors and reverse light from past few weeks. I didn't get time to take it to the service center till two weeks back. I took it to the Rajaji nagar service center and they found the reason for this issue being rats biting off the wire. They showed me the cut open part which was down in the engine bay. The repair costs quoted was about Rs.1500/- They said the genuine parts costs that much and its very necessary to keep all electrical functions well. They also warned that if not done properly there could be problems even with safety features. I tried to find out what are the parts they need and the answer was like a piece of wire and some connectors. Though not completely satisfied I had to agree as I didn't want to take the risk of non functional safety parts and other major electrical malfunctions. They did the job and gave the car back in not more than three hours. I am unable to verify if the parts they claimed are actually went in or just they cut open the two ends and just spliced it together. After the fix the lights and sensors are working fine now. I am happy with the way they fixed the car in no time but not very happy with the amount charged. However I am not really convinced with the prices of parts and labor charged. The prices of parts are Rs.1400/- and labor Rs.400/- Is this a justifiable amount? Or I am being fooled by the service center? If so is there a way I can complain it to the VW authority? They gave me a call on feedback yesterday and after my complaint about the pricing they said they will report it to higher ups. Not sure if that's a regular reply they give to every one and don't really do it. Is there an email id or some other way to contact any higher ups at VW? Any help is appreciated.

[kutts]

I went to do the regular rotation, balancing and alignment @ 30,000 km at my usual tyre store. I was shocked to see that that the front right tyre had uneven wear on the inside. I do alignment check every 5000 km and pressure check once in 2 weeks and this was quite unsettling.

The mechanic also showed me slight inner side wear on the front left as well. He recommended that the tyres be flipped so that the inner side becomes the outer and also move them to the back.

During alignment he pointed out that the front lower arm suspension bush of the right side was weak and needed to be changed.

The car is driven only on highways and proper roads. Of course there were one or two high speed encounters with potholes when the tar surface got washed away in heavy rains. Other than that I do happen to drive over the lane reflectors while overtaking.

Could these be the reason for the bush being weak ? I plan to send the car for repairs next week. Any thoughts if it would be just the bush that will be replaced or the entire control arm ? Any indicative pricing ? I do have extended warranty.

[vsathyap]

Hi All,

I'm posting on behalf of my colleague who owns a VW Polo and has run into some problems with his car. I'm pasting the details below verbatim, as mentioned by him:

Car : 2011(March) Model, Polo comfort line.
Service: 4th
Miles: 18,540 km for 4 years, most of driving in b'lore city traffic, occasional trip of around 500 km once/twice in a year.
Issue reported: vehicle jerks at the time of stopping, like after brakes are applied, it has a feeling of someone slightly pushed from behind before fully stopping.
On checking VW service center guy called and said its engine head problem and some different compression numbers are reported as in image below:



I completed regular 4th servicing which was around 13k, which was ok for me.
I took the car and VW ppl have ordered the part and they will call me once part arrives, they are bearing the part price but labor charge is on me.
But, labor charge itself is coming around 20k. Now, that engine head problem is manufacturing defect (I heard), if thats the case why would one pay labor charge.

few other questions: how common is this engine head issue in polo's and other car's?
do everytime car companies replace it .. lets say after 8-10 yrs if this problem appears will car company bear replacement amount.
why in first place this problem appears, other than manufacturing defect.

let me know if anyone recently faced this issue and if you paid the replacement charges.

Now, obviously, this seems to be a manufacturing issue as VW have obliged to replace the engine head on their cost. However, are they right in charging my colleague so much on labour? 20K seems atrocious! Something that's a manufacturing issues should be covered - labour included. Is there any fine print that says labour charges need to be borne by the owner? Can he go for insurance to lessen the financial burden ?

Some more details:

• This issue was reported in the 4th service and the car has been checked and the above "recommendation" has been given by the S.A.
• My colleague has taken back the car after the 4th service and has been informed that he will be called once the "part" arrives.
• Car is not under warranty (extended warranty not purchased - moreover as its 4+ years even the extended warranty wouldn't apply)
• Car has been duly serviced at VW A.S.S. only and at the recommended intervals with all recommended replacements/repairs/etc.

Advice needed gurus!!!!

[parimal_g]

One of my friend has a Polo D 1.2 Model the car is almost 4 years old and done 65k kms. VW charged whooping 45k RS for the clutch plate change which also includes a flywheel, when i asked the SA why you need to change the fly wheel as we he said Sir, I this case it was damaged. Its strange for a car with Just 1.2 L Engine why the clutch plate is so costly and if they say German engineering and all, then it should at least last more and i know the way my friend takes care of the car. The next surprise is suspension overhaul cast approx 80k Rs. I again called the SA why the cost is so high, he said sir please dive their car you will understand.
Following is the list of parts asked to replace:
1> Front Strut
2> Front Strut pad/mount
3> Front Strut bearing
4> Front Strut stopee
5> Front linkage Rod
6> Balance rod bush
7>lower arm
8> lower arm ball joint.
9>Rear Shocks.
10> rear shock buffer bush.
11> coil spring pad
12 > steering rack
13 > Engine mounting.

Now the car is in workshop for the above work, but am sure there is no need to replace all such parts in such a short time. Or dealers is just interested in making money.

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by parimal_g

Now the car is in workshop for the above work, but am sure there is no need to replace all such parts in such a short time. Or dealers is just interested in making money.

Just read in 'The Economic Times' last week that VW is going to go hard on dealers who are overcharging. They are to develop a system where in all the invoices will go through 'scrutinizing' system from their head office and any dealer, if found overcharging, will loose the dealership. They are also shortly going to publish rate of commonly used spares on their website.
Let's wait and watch.

[wheelz]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Guys, could not engage first and second gears on 32k km, 2.5 year old 1.2 TDI Polo this morning. VW breakdown service has diagnosed it as a damaged gearbox cable/linkage which will have to be replaced at a pretty astronomical cost of 8k with labour.

Has anyone else faced this? Unfortunately i do not have extended warranty and the SA also hinted that it would not have been covered anyway under EW as it is a wear and tear part. Only the AMC would have covered it.

Any ideas anyone?

Hi, Bro,
Even i was shocked with such an estimate which i got for my Polo, they said that the gear cable had snapped.

Cost the same - 8k for the repair….

[Dinesh_Malhotra]

Please raise the issue with Volkswagen rather strongly on this. Gear cable snapping at 32k kms and the customer being asked to pay for it is wrong. For that matter, even FORD was good enough to take care of my figo (lemon) even after extended warranty expired. Hyundai (got an elite i20) has a no fuss warranty with everything covered under it until 80k kms

[sajusherief]

Guys, I just happen to see a thread related to Jetta engine oil capacity. It's news and a shocker to me that both 2L jetta and 1.2L polo uses the same quantity of engine oil. Any idea whether we as a Polo customer is fooled ?

[no_boundaries]

Car : Polo GT TDi
Make : June 2014

At 13591Kms on the ODO, I took the car in for noise from the steering rack while driving through moderately bad roads. The quality manager at KUN VW Chennai took a TD of the car and confirmed the same. At the workshop, the SA confirms the Steering Rack needs to be changed.
He says this can be done under warranty, however it could take up to 5 working days to get the part. Just to be sure on this, he suggested he would fit the part from his TD car to confirm his findings before placing an order.

Around the forum, such cases on a VW were far and few and mostly on cars beyond 20k kms.

Any experience on this

[shelleve]

I am posting for a friend who has a polo 1.6. He has been getting his car serviced at Volkswagen frontier in Delhi and move to Mumbai last year. After reading a few reviews on the service centers for volkswagen in Mumbai on tbhp. He took his car to VW Downtown yesterday for 3rd servicing (28000 kms on the odo). He took the appointment for 9am, but even after reaching on time, he was attended by the SA at 9:30am (office timing was also mentioned as 9:30am-6:30pm)and was quoted a rough estimate of Rs 11500 for the 3rd servicing. He has a habit of overlooking the servicing to ensure everything is in order. There are a few things he wanted me to check on the forum here:

1> He noticed now VW used castrol magnatec from Drum unlike earlier where always he got charged for 5 litres and remaining amount (roughly 400ml) was given back to him. While filling the engine oil tank he checked with the technician if he has filled the amount enough as he could still see the oil going inside, but the technician said yes he has filed enough.
2> Next they told him that the front brakes need replacement and he was quoted Rs2700 for brake pas and Rs4800 for disc and was given a rough estimate again of 9000. He was also told that the front both linear arm and linear linkage bush needs replacement and along with labour cost it will come to 6000. He chose not to get it done as he was not sure about this.
3> He told the SA to get a regular servicing done and give the bill, to which he was said the system is down and he should just pay Rs11500 and they will manage if there is any round off required, to which he pulled out his second servicing bill from Delhi. He showed it to SA and said that the 2nd service included spark plug change and wheel alignment and it cost 11000, so how come without these things they are charging Rs11500 (keeping inflation in mind). The SA was taken aback and said K sir, just pay 10000, and if there is any difference we will round it off and send the invoice via mail. Half an hour post making the payment he receives the bill (on his way to home) quoting Rs9789 which included brake pad cleaning (never done), AC disinfectant( never done) as he was there the whole time ( picture attached).

To me it seems that they take money from the customer by quoting these random things and then ensure that the amount gets covered in the bill somehow. He has written back to them about his disappointment, and wants to check from the forum, the following things:

1. Is there anywhere else where he can independently get his brakes checked(he doesn’t feel any issue with it) in Mumbai? He doesn’t have extended warranty.
2. Should he add some engine oil left from previous services to be safe?
3. Even though the labour cost is now framed on the Downtown service centre why do SA’s keep giving approximate cost?
4. He feels that VW service centres are duping customers as they don’t have time to monitor the servicing of their cars by adding extra things which are not required.
5. What is VW doing to prevent their name from getting tarnished?

[vw19d]

Hello all, I'm getting my 4 year old Polo serviced at 60000 KMS. Let me know what all the mandatory things to be serviced in this time period and if possible, the tentative charges.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by shelleve

1. Is there anywhere else where he can independently get his brakes checked(he doesn’t feel any issue with it) in Mumbai? He doesn’t have extended warranty.
2. Should he add some engine oil left from previous services to be safe?
3. Even though the labour cost is now framed on the Downtown service centre why do SA’s keep giving approximate cost?
4. He feels that VW service centres are duping customers as they don’t have time to monitor the servicing of their cars by adding extra things which are not required.
5. What is VW doing to prevent their name from getting tarnished?

1. He could get the brakes inspected from a neighbourhood FNG. Is he experiencing any reduction in braking performance or juddering while braking? If not, he is good to go. 28,000 km is an average figure for the brake pads and there is still some life left on them.

2. Check the engine oil level using the dipstick. Refill if required.

3. It’s an estimate. May vary by a couple of hundred rupees.

4. Happens and there have been victims before. Best to kept oneself informed.

In the service estimate, ac disinfection is a major scam happening across a lot of service centres (read this) and avoid it completely. What is service plus? Looks like a scam (lubricating door seals, greasing unwanted nuts/bolts etc.) - best to check up with the service centre. Brake cleaning done is another scam. For that price, you can get the brake discs skimmed on a lathe at an FNG. What a ripoff!